Energy sources and the changing energy mix, the geopolitics of energy security, and the environmental dilemmas of the transition to a low-carbon future.

What this dot point is asking

WJEC wants you to explain what makes up a country's energy mix and why it changes, define and apply the concept of energy security and its geopolitics, identify the players that shape energy decisions, and weigh the dilemmas of moving to a low-carbon future. Strong answers treat energy as a system of competing pressures, reliability, cost, security and emissions, rather than simply listing energy sources, and they reach a balanced judgement supported by located examples.

The answer

Energy sources and the changing energy mix

Energy sources are classified as non-renewable (fossil fuels, which are finite and high-carbon, and nuclear, which is low-carbon but produces radioactive waste) and renewable (replenished naturally and low-carbon, but often intermittent or site-specific). A country's mix is shaped by its physical resource endowment (China's coal, Norway's hydropower, the Gulf's oil), its economic circumstances (the cost of each source and the capital to build infrastructure), its politics (subsidies, carbon targets, the wish to reduce imports) and environmental and social pressures (opposition to nuclear or fracking, climate commitments). Crucially, the mix is not fixed: the UK cut coal from over $40$ per cent of electricity in $2012$ to almost zero by the mid-2020s, replacing it with gas and a rapid rise in offshore wind.

Energy security and its geopolitics

Energy security means having a supply that is available, reliable and affordable. Countries that depend on imports are exposed to geopolitical risk: supply can be cut by conflict or sanctions, prices can spike, and key transit routes (chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz, through which a large share of seaborne oil passes) can be blockaded. Producer-consumer relations matter: organisations such as OPEC can influence world oil prices by adjusting output, and Europe's heavy reliance on Russian gas before $2022$ became a serious vulnerability when supplies were disrupted. Energy security therefore drives policy towards diversifying suppliers, building strategic reserves and increasing domestic renewable generation.

Players and the low-carbon transition

A wide range of players shape energy decisions: national governments (policy, subsidies, targets), energy companies and TNCs (investment and supply), OPEC and producer states, IGOs such as the International Energy Agency, NGOs and pressure groups, and consumers whose demand and behaviour matter. The push to a low-carbon future, framed by climate agreements, requires a transition away from fossil fuels, but each option carries trade-offs, which is why energy is described as a set of dilemmas rather than easy choices.

Examples in context

Example 1. The UK's changing energy mix and offshore wind. The UK has transformed its electricity mix in little more than a decade, closing its last coal-fired power station and building the world's largest offshore wind capacity in the North Sea, including the Dogger Bank and Hornsea developments. Gas remains the flexible backbone, nuclear provides a steady low-carbon base, and pumped-storage hydro at Dinorwig in Snowdonia helps balance the grid. The UK illustrates how policy, falling renewable costs and the drive for both decarbonisation and energy security can reshape a national energy mix quickly, while still leaving dilemmas of intermittency, cost and the future of nuclear.

Example 2. Europe's gas dependence and the geopolitics of security. Before $2022$, several European countries imported a large share of their natural gas from Russia, a dependence that became a major vulnerability when supplies were cut and prices surged across the continent. The response, diversifying suppliers, importing liquefied natural gas, accelerating renewables and improving efficiency, shows energy security in action and the geopolitical risk of relying on a single supplier. It is the leading recent example of how the geopolitics of energy can force a rapid, costly shift in a region's energy strategy.

Try this

Q1. Define the term energy security. [2 marks]

• Cue. Having access to an energy supply that is reliable, affordable and available, with low risk of disruption to supply.

Q2. Explain one reason why a country's energy mix changes over time. [3 marks]

• Cue. Government climate policy and falling renewable costs can shift the mix; for example, UK policy and cheaper offshore wind led coal to be replaced by wind and gas, cutting emissions while changing the share of each source.